A/N: So it's a new year (well, maybe for some it isn't, but close enough) so happy new year everyone! You guys have New Year resolutions? Mine is: Don't die for a whole year. It's the same thing every year, and so far, so good!
12:03 A.M – Gallows' House
"Ha-CHOO!" Jet sneezed loudly. "Ugh, maybe I caught a cold or something. Jolly day my ass." He sniffled his way to the beds, where he found Clive sitting on a stool staring at him. Virginia, Karen, Iris and Gallows took up the beds.
"Merry Christmas, Jet." He whispered, to him, flicking through a small novel.
"Clive? Weren't you back at Claiborne?" Jet asked in confusion.
"Yes I was, but Catherine said she wanted to celebrate with the rest of you as well, and Kaitlyn also wanted to come along. They're both sleeping with Halle in her room at the moment."
"Yeah, whatever. I'm gonna go sleep in the lounge." Jet began wearily walking out of the room. "Ha-CHOO!" Jet covered his nose and quickly made sure nobody woke up.
"You don't seem very well, is something wrong?"
"I'm fine."
Jet collapsed into one of the couches, exhausted. Something caught his eye, and he turned and saw a small, yet well decorated Christmas tree in the corner, presents strewn on the floor around it. Reaching into his jacket, he pulled out the three small presents, all wrapped in red and white stripes and held together with a blue bow.
"I guess I put these here." Jet set down the presents with the rest, then slumped back in the chair. "Ha-CHOO!" a little bit of snot went down Jet's nose. "Damn, I guess even androids can get sick too. Not fair."
He felt his eyelids grow heavy, and he slowly fell asleep, the snot still stuck on his face.
3:00 A.M – Unknown Area
"So, you two," Eroz directed at Two and Three. "What are our plans for today? Have you found some Guardian Temples to ravage? Maybe a city in need of destroying? Perhaps a weapon to help us destroy the world? Come on, throw me a bone!"
"Actually sir, we have nothing planned for today." Two replied.
"Is there a reason for that?"
"It's Christmas, mate!" Three cheered with his Australian accent.
"Christ…mas?" Eroz raised an eyebrow. "Is that some kind of…food?"
"Uh, no sir. It's a celebration." Two responded.
"…And why does that stop our plans?"
"Well mate, we thought we could use a break. We've been working all-out for yonks(A/N: Australian for years)."
"…Riiight." Eroz sighed and slumped down. "Okay, whatever. I guess I can handle one day without destruction. So what do we do in this… Christmas thing?"
"Well, I've done some research." Two pulled out a sheet of paper from his coat. "Our scout teams have told us that people give other people presents, kiss each other, and say 'Merry Christmas' a lot." During all this by the way, Two had a straight face. Not like the face that Eroz had looking at him.
"So…I have to give you guys presents, kiss you, and say 'Merry Christmas'? Oh God, what kind of day is this? What kind of crazy, delusional person could enjoy such a day?"
Everyone now took a moment to look at the readers and smile.
"Well, anyway, we also decorate our home with stuff and get a tree."
Two walked off for a moment, and returned carrying a huge pine tree like it was weightless. "I've got the tree."
"And since we kinda got our castle blown up, I went and stole some guy's house, and all the decorations were already done! So let's go party it up, mate! I brought some board games, too! You prefer Cluedo, or Monopoly?"
Eroz sighed. "Someone kill me."
7:00 A.M – Gallows' House
"Merry Christmas everyone!" Virginia yelled, waking everyone else up. As usual, she was one of the first up, and her little cheer had woken Iris, Gallows, and Karen. "Come on, get up! Eh, Clive, you're here too? Well, whatever, get up!" she pushed Clive awake, who slept sitting on the stool.
"Ugghhh…" Gallows moaned. "Gimme another hour or five."
"No, get up!"
"Ughhh…"
"Get up!!!"
After rallying everybody awake, they left the bedroom and headed for the lounge, where Jet was still sound asleep.
"Hey Jet! Merry Christmas!" Virginia yelled, but Jet didn't even flinch. Virginia looked closer at him. "Hey! Wake up!" Still nothing. Then she noticed the booger leaking out of his nose. "Hahaha! That's a first!" She grabbed a tissue from her pouch and began wiping him up.
"Unn… S-Stop…It…It tickles!" Jet began twitching a lot, a crooked smile on his face. His eyes slowly opened, and he saw Virginia's face right in front of his own. "Wahahahhhfahca!" he yelled in surprise, running up the couch. Everyone else broke out in laughter.
"I was just cleaning some snot on your face!" Virginia said, giggling. "Merry Christmas!"
Jet slowly made his way down the couch again, sliding back into a comfortable position. "Uh, yeah. Merry… Christmas."
"Well then!" Gallows shouted. "Let's open our presents!!!" Gallows made a wild dive at the tree, only to have his face meet with Halle's walking stick.
"Not so fast, moron!" Halle had come out of her room, along with Catherine and Kaitlyn. "Baskar tradition is to wait until the end of the day! First we have to go to the Christmas celebration!"
"Oh yeah!" Gallows said. "They were the bomb!"
"Wait, there's a festival?" Jet said in surprise. He didn't want a repeat of the last one, where he'd end up on a stage playing some lovey dovey guy with a sword.
"Sounds fun! Let's go!" Virginia yelled.
"I wanna go, daddy!" Kaitlyn said, pulling on Clive's coat.
"Yes, yes, we're going." Clive said with a smile, hauling her into his arms.
"A festival?" Karen said in confusion. "I've never been to one before."
"I'm sure you'll love it, kid!" Gallows said, thumping her on the back.
"So we agree on going?" Virginia asked. Everyone but Jet nodded. "Jet?"
"…Hmph." Jet nodded very slightly, but it was enough for Virginia to consider as yes.
"Let's go!"
7:20 A.M – Festival
Once again, stalls had been set up, and surprisingly many people from other towns had come for the celebration. Apparently it had become a popular place for Christmas throughout the years.
"Wow!" Karen smiled. "So many people!"
"Wow!" Kaitlyn said as well.
"They're like two children!" Clive smiled.
"Come on, Clive! Let's go have a look around! We'll let Karen tag along with us too!" Catherine said.
"Yeah, daddy! Let Karen come!" Kaitlyn was already pulling a bewildered Karen.
"Okay okay! We'll see you all later!" Clive waved at the others, and disappeared into the crowd.
"As for you Gallows, you're coming with me." Halle hit him with her stick again to get his attention. "We've got work to do."
"Ow, okay already! Gee…" Gallows looked back at Jet and Virginia, then smirked. "You kids have fun!" he teased. Virginia and Jet looked at each other, faces as red as beetroot.
"Come on Jet! Let's go look around!" she smiled, grabbing his hand.
"Uh…Okay."
They weaved through the crowds, checking out stalls littered with food, toys, and the sort.
"Wow, it's all so pretty!" Virginia said, staring at some necklaces. 'This one is my favorite!' she thought to herself, looking at a necklace with a small eagle attached to it, a tiny diamond embedded into its eye.
"Would you like one of them, young lady?" the stall manager said. "You can win it here, why not take a shot?"
"What kind of game is it?"
"It's a boomerang throwing game! You just have to throw the boomerang, and get around these three bottles." The bottles were arranged in a kind of square pattern, with the player as a corner of the square, and the bottles being the other corners.
"It looks hard…" Virginia said to herself. Jet noticed, and stepped up, not sure what he was doing.
"Lemme have a go." He said, throwing a coin on the table. "Mind if I use my own boomerang?"
"Uh, no. Go ahead!"
Jet pulled out his red boomerang, then asked Virginia to step back. He winded his hand back, and threw his boomerang out. It spun around the first bottle, then the next, then the last one, before finally returning to Jet's hand.
"That was amazing! I've never seen anyone with such acute boomerang skills! You can take any prize you want!"
Jet looked at the table, and picked up one of the necklaces. The one with an eagle on it, which had a diamond embedded in the eye.
"Here, necklaces aren't my style, and this one… kinda…suited you…to me." Jet said, holding out the necklace for her, his head turned the other way.
"How did he…" Virginia almost thought she must have been thinking out aloud. "Thanks Jet!" she said, throwing her arms around him suddenly.
"W-Wha?"
"You two sure make a fine couple in my eyes!" the stall manager chuckled, making Jet go pink. Virginia however was still hugging Jet.
The two drifters then continued looking around the stalls again, except this time Virginia had a beautiful necklace on.
7:30 A.M – Festival
"Honey, look at this beautiful necklace! Can you get it for me?" Catherine was holding a golden necklace with a heart on it.
"Of course honey!" Clive called over the stall manager. "Excuse me, how can I get this?"
"It's simple! Just throw a boomerang around these three bottles!"
"Okay, I'll give it a go!" Clive said, laying down a coin.
Clive picked up the boomerang and threw it. It hit all three bottles, knocking them over.
"Better luck next time!" The store manager said, setting up the bottles again.
"Grr, gimme another go!" Clive said, laying down another coin.
7:50 A.M – Festival
"Granny, not that I wanna get more work or nothing, but I dunno… this doesn't seem like something you need me for." Gallows said cautiously, sitting down next to Halle eating a corn dog. "Not that I don't like corn dogs."
"I'm giving those two some time alone, turtle-brain!" Halle said, whacking Gallows behind the head. "And whenever you're around, everything goes wrong."
"Aw, Granny, that's harsh." Gallows sighed. "Well, I get your point though. I guess this is okay." Gallows sighed. "I need a girl…"
"What you NEED is a brain! It only takes half of one to know you should visit your Granny! Why, when I was your age…" Halle trailed along, giving her long, long, life story to Gallows.
8:00 A.M – Festival
"Um, Virginia…" Jet said reluctantly.
"Yes?"
"Are you sure you want to do this?"
"Yes, yes I am…"
"V-Virginia, what will the others think?"
"Jet… I don't care what they think… I want to… With you."
"But it's… so early. A-Are you sure?"
"Yes… Please Jet"
Virginia's puppy-dog eyes made it impossible for Jet to say no.
"Okay… I…I'll do it."
"Oh Jet…Would you like chocolate, strawberry, or vanilla?"
"Chocolate, I guess."
Obviously, Virginia was trying to get Jet to enter with her in the ice-cream eating contest. (A/N: Were you thinking otherwise? PERVERT!) Jet as always wasn't into getting on a stage, but Virginia's persistence once again won him over.
"Okay! Miss, my friend and I would like to enter! He'll have chocolate, and I'll have strawberry, please!"
"Good luck, you two!" the woman said, leading them to the stage. "Just take a seat, and everything will be set up in no time!"
The two drifters stepped up to a wide stage, with a long table laid out. Out of the ten seats at the table, three were still empty. Jet and Virginia took their seats, and waited for the contest to begin.
"Ah, sorry I'm late!" a voice from behind the stage was heard.
"Hm, that sounds vaguely familiar…" Virginia thought to herself.
"Yeah, it feels like I've heard it before too…Something about it makes me uncomfortable…" Jet said.
When the final contestant took a seat, they realized why.
"Iris???" They said simultaneously. Iris had taken a seat next to them, brushing off her dress.
"Didn't think I'd see you two here!" Iris said exuberantly.
"What are you doing here?" Virginia asked with a pout. She was enjoying her time with Jet, and didn't like Iris interrupting them.
"Well, I got bored, so I just passed by, and noticed this. I decided to try it for fun, and that's it! Oh hey, it's starting."
The conversation ended as the announcer started the contest.
"May the best, ice-cream eating man, or woman, win!"
The crowd cheered, and the starting bell chimed. The contestants were off, digging into the ice cream as though their lives depended on it.
Jet was hammering the ice cream down fairly quickly, managing to finish his bowl second, the first being a burly man at the other end of the table. Another bowl was put in front of him, and he started again.
Virginia and Iris were a few scoops behind, but they had managed to reach the second bowl before the others. Virginia loved ice cream, and she was still rearing to go. Three of the other contestants however, had already stopped due to brain freeze. The remaining seven were still going strong, and the contest continued.
8:43 A.M -Festival
"Uh… Sir, I think you've had enough."
"I'll tell you when I've had enough! Gimme that damn boomerang!" Clive yelled, throwing down his 11,236th coin.
9:00 A.M – Festival
The contest was nearing an end with only four contestants left. Jet, Iris, Virginia, and the big burly man at the other end. However, Iris was starting to have a head ache.
"Ack, brain freeze!" Iris tried to continue eating, but soon gave in.
"Ladies and gentlemen, only three contestants left! How could this amazingly long ice-cream contest end!?"
Soon, even the burly man couldn't take it. He dropped out, leaving only Jet and Virginia.
"This is it, folks! The incredible climax to this battle!"
Jet was still strolling along as thought it was nothing, since he was used to having extreme pain in his head. Thanks to Gallows, he could withstand nearly any kind of head pain, with Gallows being the only thing that hurt him.
'This is a cinch.' Jet thought to himself. 'I'll win this in no time.' He took a minute to glance over at Virginia, who was putting in a lot of effort to keep eating. She looked almost ready to burst. 'Heh, never seen her try so hard outside of a battle.' Jet looked at his ice cream again, then back at Virginia. 'Meh, something tells me she won't quit. I guess I better…'
Jet stood up, grabbing his stomach and making groaning noises. "Oh, I've had enough. I give up."
"Huh?" Virginia looked up at Jet, strawberry ice cream surrounding her mouth and a bit on the tip of her nose.
"WE HAVE A WINNER!" the man shouted. "Congratulations, young lady! You've won the title of the greatest ice cream lover, as well as this massive tub of strawberry ice cream!"
A tub as big as a swimming pool was wheeled onto the stage. Virginia literally had to bend her back to see the top of the tub. It was big. It was very big.
"…Wow. That's a lot of ice cream." Jet said in awe.
9:20 A.M – Festival
Jet, Iris, and Virginia take a seat on a bench, trying to make a dent in the ice cream Virginia won at the contest.
"This sure is a lot of ice cream, huh?" Virginia said, taking a spoonful of her ice cream. She managed to once again get a little on her nose.
"Jeez, Virginia." Jet huffed, reaching out and wiping the ice cream off her face with his finger, then without realizing it, licked it off his finger. "…Um…If I didn't do that, it would…stain my finger."
"Teehee… Thanks Jet." Virginia said happily.
"Aw Jet! Me too!" Iris dabbed some ice cream on her nose as well. "Come on, it's not fair!"
"Ha!" Virginia smirked at Iris, making sure Jet didn't see.
"Eh?" Jet said, his face redder than Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer's nose.
9:23 A.M – Baskar Colony
"I dunno about this, bro…" a man wearing a bandana said. "I mean, it's Christmas. Can't we rob this place some other day? Maybe Easter or something? How about Valentines?"
"Dammit, bro, listen to your older brother!" a similar looking man replied in annoyance. They appeared to be twins. "Right now, nobody's around to stop us from doing anything! So obviously this is the best damn time to do some robbing. Now shut up and grab that bag that says 'stolen stuff'."
9:25 A.M – Festival
"Hurry back, Jet!" Virginia called. Jet needed to take a leak, and was heading back to the Colony. Of course, he just told them he forgot something. He wasn't going to say to her he needed to take a leak.
"Yeah, whatever." Jet said, rushing off.
He arrived at the colony in record time, and made a beeline for Gallows' toilet. He dashed in, closed the door, and went about his business.
"Ah…" Jet sighed. He was just about to flush when he heard something outside.
"Okay, this is the last place, little bro! You got the stuff?"
"Yeah I do! This one seems really nice too! It smells like strawberries!"
"Hey, quit hogging it!"
"Bro!"
"What the hell do you two bozos think you're doing?" Jet had stepped out of the bathroom, his ARM pointed at them.
"D-Don't shoot!" the younger one squealed.
"Pussy!" the older one said. Quick as lightning, he took a knife out of his pocket and threw it at Jet, knocking his ARM out of his hands. "Try this on for size!"
"What?" Jet was assaulted by numerous knives, coming out one after the other. The man was surprisingly skilled, using both his hands, and throwing a large number of knives. Jet's quick reflexes helped him dodge most of them, but one managed to hit him in the shoulder. "Nngh!" blood splattered out of his wound, falling onto the floor and all over his jacket. He reached in and painfully removed the knife.
"Hah! You see? You can't beat me!" The man laughed out loud.
"Tsk, moron…" Jet stood up, ignoring the pain in his shoulder. "Are you satisfied with just injuring me? A true warrior is only satisfied…" Jet threw the knife in the air. "When he wins!"
"Argh!" Jet had activated his accelerator. Moving at sonic speeds, he quickly beat the living snot out of the two thieves. Jet returned to his original position, his accelerator deactivating. He caught the knife he threw, and pointed it at the two men dazed on the floor. "I'm giving you ten seconds to get out and run."
"L-Let's go, bro! He'll kill us!" the younger one painstakingly stood up, dragging his brother behind him. They disappeared from Baskar Colony, leaving Jet with their bag of loot.
Get pulled out a heal berry and punched it into his palm, turning it into mush. He then rubbed it onto his wound, effectively stopping the bleeding. His attention then went to the bag the thieves had
"Wonder what they got in here…" Jet walked over to the bag, undoing the tie holding it closed, and peered inside. Jet's face went pink, then deep red. He pulled out one of the things in the bag. "W…WHY IS THIS BAG FULL OF UNDERWEAR???"
Jet held a pink pair of underwear in his hands, staring at it with deep crimson cheeks. In his confusion, he slipped, slamming onto the floor, the panties falling right on his face. A large black bra fell on his stomach, and another small pair of white panties fell on his thigh.
"S-Strawberry…"
"Hey Jet, you were taking awhile and I thought I'd…" Virginia had grown worried, and came to find Jet. What she found was Jet lying on the floor with a pair of panties on his face. A very familiar looking pair of panties. "Jet… Why do you have my panties on your face…?"
Jet scrambled up in embarrassment. "Y-Your panties?? I…I mean they…It was…" Virginia looked at him in confusion and a tinge of pink in her cheeks. In her confusion, she accidentally tripped on the carpet, landing on Jet's arm.
"Hey Virginia we're gonna miss the…" Iris had walked in, and saw Jet on the floor. Then she noticed the black bra on his chest. "My Jet, you could at least ask if you can play with my bra before you go off and do it." She smirked.
"N-No, this is…" Jet tried to explain, but Iris just laughed. In her amusement, she slipped on something, landing on Jet's other arm. Just then, someone else came in.
"Grr, I lost 20 grand at that damn boomerang stall, and I still didn't get the…" Clive looked up in his anger and saw Jet. "…Hello, Jet… Is this a new trend for young people now or something?"
"C-Clive, help! This is…" He was interrupted by Karen and Kaitlyn walking in.
"Wah, Jet, you're playing with undie-wear! Can I play too?" Kaitlyn squealed. Karen on the other hand looked at him with a deep blush, staring at the white panties.
"M…My panties… Jet…" Karen started fidgeting, looking at the ground with a red face.
"K-Karen? Don't misunderstand me, this is…this…" Karen tried to run off, but slipped as well, landing on Jet's legs. This time, Gallows walked in.
"Damn, I've had enough of this, I need a girl! Maybe I'll try Iris or Karen next I see 'em. At least Jet doesn't have them yet, well, maybe Iris but…" He looked in to see Jet covered in underwear, and the girls staring at him.
"Oh God…" Jet looked down in agony.
"…" Gallows stared in awe, looking at Jet showered in panties. "Dayumm, it's not fair, you get all the chicks!" He huffed.
The girls were very embarrassed, but it was clear to see Jet was the most embarrassed by far. Iris, however was enjoying it freely. Not to say the other girls weren't enjoying it, even if they didn't realize it.
10:00 A.M – Gallows' House
After the complicating misunderstanding, Jet finally managed to explain everything.
"…And that's it." Jet finished.
"So, this was done by a pair of twin underwear thieves, and you just by chance slipped, and had their specific underwear land on you. And this was all by chance." Clive recounted.
"Exactly."
Everyone stared at Jet with disbelief.
"…What?"
"It's a little farfetched, Jet. Not that we don't believe you, but…" Clive shrugged.
"Jeez… You want proof then?" Jet thought for a moment. "Okay, I got some proof."
Jet started by pulling the knife out of his pocket. "One of them threw this knife at me." He then began to take off his jacket and shirt. "And this," he ripped off the heal berry's covering, showing a half-healed wound of a puncture. "Is where it hit me."
"Jet!" Virginia hurriedly checked the wound. "Are you okay?"
Jet nodded. "I guess this means I'm clear now?"
"Yes, I suppose. Sorry to have doubted you, Jet." Clive apologized.
"Yeah, whatever."
"Well, I have to go find Catherine. Coming along, Kaitlyn? Karen?"
"Coming daddy! Come on, Karen!"
"Ah, okay." Karen plodded off after her. She turned to face Jet for a moment. "Ah, Jet, sorry… Eh… Bye!" she said in a hurry, then disappeared.
"And I just came in to grab something for Granny, so I better be off!" Gallows galloped out the doorway.
"And I have some things I wanna see at the festival. Care to join me, Jet?" Iris smiled evilly at Jet, making him shiver.
"No, that's fine!" Virginia said angrily, pushing her out. Virginia shut the door behind her, and looked at Jet.
"Sorry for doubting you Jet." She took a seat next to him. "Can you forgive me?"
Jet did a crinkly thing with his face, which Virginia guessed was one of his ways of smiling. Or at least trying to stop himself from smiling.
"Yeah, whatever. Forget it." Jet was told by Clive that he should stay in for awhile, but he would be fine to go to the festival again in the afternoon. "Virginia, don't you want to go back to the festival?"
"Nah, it wouldn't be any fun without you." She smiled. "Besides, I told you I'd make you enjoy this Christmas! So I'm gonna stick with you, and we'll do something here!"
When Jet heard that, he felt something warm and fuzzy inside him. Then he did something Virginia didn't expect. Jet slowly worked his arm around her, looked at her, and smiled a real smile.
"Thanks Ginny."
Virginia looked at him in surprise with a pink face, then burst out in laughter.
"What?"
"Sorry, hehe, it's just I don't see you like this a lot. It's strange."
"Well excuse me for being strange. I won't do it ever again."
"Aw come on…"
"No."
"Pleeeease?"
"No."
"You can say no, but I know I'll see you do it again!"
"We'll see about that, Pink Panties!"
"Hey!"
Virginia went pink, shouting at Jet in annoyance, and Jet just kept saying 'Pink Panties', putting his fingers in his ears.
11:45 A.M – Stolen House
"I'm telling you Two, mate! It was Colonel Mustard in the dining room, with the rope!"
"You're wrong, it's Mrs. Peacock, in the attic, with the revolver."
"And I'm telling you two morons that it's Eroz, in this house, with my bare hands. And I murder two people."
MIDDAY
TO BE CONTINUED
A/N: Lot of things happening, but hey, it's a Christmas thing! I even have to span to another chapter, and I guess that could become even more complicated! Anywho, happy holidays, everyone! Hope this year is better than the last for you all!
NEXT TIME!
The festival ends, and the people return to the town to sing carols and party together at the square! Jet gets better, and spends his time watching everyone underneath a small tree. Little does he realize that Gallows had smartly placed a mistletoe there, and Jet is immediately attacked by his many adoring fans! The time for presents is also nearing! What did Jet get out of that cave? What will Jet get from the others? And finally, why did Jet come to Baskar Colony in the first place? Find out in Part II!